Good morning.
Leaders at the G7 summit – which kicks off in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England, on Friday – will call for a fresh World Health Organization inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, a leaked draft communique suggests.
Led by the Joe Biden administration, the call comes after the president last month expanded the US investigation into the virus’s origins, with one intelligence agency leaning towards the theory that it came from a laboratory in Wuhan. Scientific consensus remains, however, that it is most likely to have jumped to humans from an animal host in a natural event.
According to Bloomberg News, which has seen the communique draft, leaders will also promise to deliver a billion extra vaccine doses over the next year to help the global fight against Covid-19 and to tackle forced labour in supply chains.
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The summit will mark the first time the G7 leaders have met in person since 2019. From Russia to Brexit, here are the key issues on their agenda.
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After landing in the UK on Air Force One on Wednesday – his first overseas trip as president – Biden told US military personnel and service families at the US airbase RAF Mildenhall: “The US is back.”
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Meanwhile, a group of investors controlling $41tn in assets called for governments to stop supporting fossil fuels and to set targets to rapidly cut carbon emissions.
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The G7 corporate tax plan could make the world a fairer place to do business, write Arun Advani and Lucie Gadenne.
The Telegraph wildfire in Arizona has burned 80,000 acres and is now the 10th largest in the state’s history
A wildfire in Arizona, which is suffering severe drought, has burned more than 80,000 acres since it started east of Phoenix on Friday and is now the 10th largest in state history.
Firefighters worked through the night to tackle the Telegraph fire – believed to be human-caused and on Wednesday was just 21% contained – which is being fueled by hot, dry and windy conditions.
Officials have closed nearly every major highway out of the area and thousands of people have been evacuated.
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“Even our own fire equipment is starting fires,” said Dean McAlister, a fire information officer. But despite the tough conditions, he said “things are looking fairly good”.
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How many people have been evacuated? So far, at least 2,500 homes in Gila county and it is estimated that twice as many households are in “set” mode ready to leave.
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Meanwhile, Mescal, Arizona’s other wildfire has burned more than 70,000 acres since it was first reported on 2 June. On Wednesday it had reached 33% containment.
The Keystone XL pipeline has finally been officially cancelled in a landmark moment for climate campaigners
The owner of the Keystone XL pipeline, TC Energy, has officially cancelled the 1,200 mile project – months after Biden revoked its permit.
The $9bn oil pipeline was originally proposed in 2008 to transport oil from Canada’s western tar sands to the US. Its cancellation marks a “landmark moment in the fight against the climate crisis”, said Jared Margolis, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
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What’s the background? The pipeline was expected to deliver 830,000 barrels a day to Nebraska but it was delayed for 12 years after opposition from US landowners, Native American tribes and environmentalists and earlier this year Biden revoked a vital permit for the project.
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Meanwhile, environmental protesters and Native American tribes are trying to block another controversial pipeline. Line 3 would carry oil through tribal lands and fragile watersheds in northern Minnesota. Police arrested more than 100 people this week.
In other news …
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A truck attack that killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, has sparked fear and anger in Canada. Thousands of people, including the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, gathered outside the country’s second-largest mosque for a vigil to mourn Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife, Madiha Salman, 44, their daughter, Yumna Afzaal, 15, and Salman’s mother, Talat Afzaal, 74, who were killed on Sunday night in what police have described as a premeditated attack motivated by Islamophobia.
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Kamala Harris suffered a bumpy baptism over immigration during her first foreign trip as vice-president. Her tough stance on corruption was overshadowed by a backlash over her “do not come” message to Guatemalan migrants.
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Donald Trump will go on tour with the ex-Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, who was forced off air in 2017 after sexual harassment accusations, for a series of “live conversations”. The History Tour will visit Florida and Texas in December.
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Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s deposed leader, faces fresh corruption charges ahead of her forthcoming trials, according to state-run media. She is accused of misusing land for a charity foundation and accepting bribes of cash and gold. Two of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trials are expected to start next week.
Stat of the day: Colorado has recorded its first litter of gray wolf pups since the 1940s
The litter of at least three wolf pups with their parents, two already known adult wolves, was spotted over the weekend. The species was hunted, poisoned and trapped into extermination in the state in the 1940s. But voters last year approved a ballot measure to reintroduce the animal on to public lands in western Colorado by the end of 2023.
Don’t miss this: how the US lets hot school days sabotage learning
The negative impact of overheating on the human brain are well documented. And yet a huge number of American schools do not have air conditioning. Data and visual reporter Alvin Chang documents the learning lost as a result and how schools with more Black or Hispanic students are less likely to have air conditioning. See how much heat affects learning in your school district.
… or this: ‘I can drive through Flint now and not get flashbacks’
As she switches from boxing to MMA, the double Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields talks about the poisoning of her home town’s water and Flint Strong, the film being made about her life, written and produced by Barry Jenkins. “There’s going to be more biopics after [Flint Strong],” she tells Loretta Hunt. “That’s just how my life is.”
Last Thing: the Texas Republican who suggested changing the moon’s orbit to fight climate change
A Texas Republican left a forestry official stumped when he asked whether it might be possible to change the course of the moon’s orbit – or indeed that of the Earth – as a potential solution for climate change. Congressman Louie Gohmert posed the imaginative question during a House natural resources committee hearing on Tuesday. Jennifer Eberlien, associate deputy chief of the US Forest Service, politely replied that she would have to “follow up with you on that one, Mr Gohmert”.
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The Link LonkJune 10, 2021 at 05:04PM
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/10/first-thing-g7-leaders-will-reportedly-call-for-fresh-who-covid-investigation
First Thing: G7 leaders will reportedly call for fresh WHO Covid investigation - The Guardian
https://news.google.com/search?q=fresh&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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